Riding The Struggle Bus #heart #soul

One of my friends refers to riding the struggle bus whenever she’s having a tough week.

I have been living on the struggle bus lately.

Luckily, I have sweet, kind friends around me who are good listeners. However, when every conversation you have with a friend ends up resembling a therapy session – it probably means you need to head to an actual therapist. #somethingtothinkabout

Anyway, I’ve gotten lots of good advice from the people around me. One person told me that when you are really struggling to get along with someone, it’s because one of their characteristics is something you also struggle with; maybe you’re both bossy, or passive, or impatient. I spent a long morning thinking about that this week, and then eventually dismissing it. That might be true in some situations, but doesn’t relate to me right now.

Tee told me, “When you’re feeling frustrated, it’s because there’s something that needs to change.” This I found far more enlightening. I’ve been finding myself quick to get angry, and I’ve been noticing my ‘tell’ giving me away. (When I’m stopping on the way home from work every day to stock up on chocolates and sweets, it’s a Majorly Stressed Out alert.) These are definitely indicators that something needs to change. Also, that I’m trying to cover up a difficult emotion, whether it’s anger, anxiety, fear, etc.

I did a lot of soul searching this past weekend, and I reflected on my previous blog post, “My Evolving Consciousness.” In that post, I talked about the utility of challenges in our lives. Sometimes, we have a major challenge, and it stays in your life until you’ve learned the lesson that you need to learn.

Finally, I think I’ve figured out what the universe is trying to teach me!

MESSAGE FROM THE UNIVERSE TO KEM:

a) You don’t have to like everyone.

b) It’s okay to not like EVERY THING about everyone.

No worries – I can explain. For today, I’m just going to focus on the first part of this message.

A long, long time ago, in a faraway land, I somehow taught myself that it was not okay to dislike people. Eventually, I started to acknowledge that I didn’t like some people – but I never gave myself permission to do it, so I owned a significant amount of guilt each time I disliked someone.

Lately, I’ve been struggling with people in my life that I simply don’t like – not because they are terrible people, but because something about the combination of them and me is awkward in a bad away, rather than awkward in the delightfully beautifully wonderful way that I have with my closest friends.

I am trying to remind myself periodically that it is perfectly okay to not like someone. It doesn’t mean I won’t be kind to that person; in fact, I might be able to access more kindness if I let go of my inner struggle to make myself like them more than I do.

I really could not be happier about this revelation, because I am sincerely hoping that now that I’ve embraced this message, the universe will EASE UP with the lessons and challenges! I would like to disembark from the struggle bus and switch to floating down a peaceful river, inner tube optional.